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Harold Martin, 54, who worked for several private firms and had
clearances to access top secret information, was arrested over
two years ago for what may have been the biggest breach of
classified information in history.
When Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided his home
south of Baltimore in 2016 they found stacks of documents and
electronic storage devices amounting to 50 terabytes of files,
including classified ones, prosecutors said.
U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors said in a statement that
Martin's actions risked the disclosure of top secret information
to America's "enemies." One of their allegations was that Martin
talked online with people in Russian and other languages but
they never found proof he shared stolen information with anyone.
His lawyers said he was a hoarder who liked to take work home
with him.
"His actions were the product of mental illness. Not treason,"
lawyers Deborah Boardman and James Wyda said in a statement.
Martin and the government agreed that if the federal court in
Baltimore accepted the plea agreement, he would be sentenced to
nine years in prison on the charge of willful retention of
national defense information, prosecutors said. Sentencing was
set for July 17 by U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett.
(Reporting By Mark Hosenball; additional reporting by Andrew Hay
in New Mexico; Editing by Grant McCool)
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